Endlessly fascinating, moving, and important.
Golda Meir served in the Israeli government from the first year of the nation’s founding, eventually becoming Prime Minister in 1969. A fascinating and divisive figure, her great test came in 1973 with the Yom Kippur War. Despite possible intel that an all-fronts attack was imminent, the call to mobilise was not made early enough to prevent Israel suffering massive losses and a near-defeat.
It is this period of Meir’s premiership that director Guy Nattiv concentrates on in his feature, Golda. Thankfully, he does not set out to make a bio-pic, but rather to look a horrific and important time in recent history, with the narrative revolving around his protagonist. This is certainly an interrogation into Meir’s leadership at the time, as well as that of the coterie around her: Moshe Dyan, David Elazar, Zvi Zamir et al, yet this falls into neither excoriation nor hagiography. Nattiv respects his audience’s intelligence enough to deliver a balanced account, but one which pulls no punches. Underpinning the excellent direction is an extraordinary screenplay by Nicholas Martin.
There are probably three actors who could have played Meir in this work, Helen Mirren being one of them. It would be naive to call this performance “career-defining” since her career is already well and truly defined. And yet there is something about Mirren in this role that is next-level. She truly inhabits the persona of Golda Meir. Nattiv makes the most of having this supreme artist in front of his camera, not being afraid of close-ups, or conversely of trusting Mirren to deliver from a distance. Casting director Alex Johnson has ensured that Mirren is surrounded by actors who can match both her skill and her presence. Some of these include Lior Ashkenazi as Elazar, Liev Schreiber as Henry Kissinger, and Rami Heuberger as Dyan. The wonderful Camille Cottin is perfectly cast as Meir’s long-time assistant and friend, Lou Kaddar, and Ellie Piercy delivers a moving performance as secretary and assistant, Shir Shapiro.
Golda manages to be a feature that is both epic, and intimate. There are no endless battle scenes, but rather Nattiv has us listen with Meir on comms, as young soldiers are ambushed. These are some of the most movingly created war scenes in contemporary cinema. Some documentary footage is cut in and out of filmed scenes, adding to, rather than detracting from, the human drama. And while Israel fights battles on several fronts, so too does Meir the woman, as the lymphoma which will eventually kill her, starts to wage war on her body.
There are laughs here too: Meir clearly had a sharp, and dry, sense of humour. And sometimes the war room itself just has to give rise to dark comedy, in order for its participants to remain sane.
Golda is a portrait of an incredible woman (love her or hate her), of a vital turning point in the modern history of the middle east, and of the vicissitudes of political power and military force. Most importantly, it is a gripping, moving, and astonishing, work of cinema.
More News
